(This story was updated to add new information.)
A Corpus Christi groundwater project considered critical amid an intensifying drought is hitting a snag — potentially delaying the delivery of millions of gallons of water by months.
It had initially been expected that the remaining permitting for operation of the proposed Evangeline groundwater project could be approved by the San Patricio County Groundwater District on Feb. 6, a date that city officials have impressed in recent months as vital to beginning construction.
The permits were not granted, said City Manager Peter Zanoni on Feb. 9.
Protests filed against the project — permitted to pump as much as 24 million gallons of groundwater per day — are anticipated to slow the process, city officials said last week.
It could significantly disrupt the city of Corpus Christi’s planned timeline for avoiding, or at least staving off, what is described as a Level 1 water emergency.
That is projected for November, should the city fail in building additional water supply.
A Level 1 emergency is called when the city is believed to have 180 days before water supply is unable to meet demand.
Curtailment — the forced reduction of water use — would be in store, should that come to pass.
Although Evangeline project developers have a production permit for the well field, they do not have two other permits integral to the project reaching fruition — those for drilling and transport.
Developers of the project are required to attain the necessary permits before the city considers a final contract for $169 million in groundwater rights.
City officials as of last week directed blame for the likely hold-up largely on the city of Sinton, which brought to the table early concerns of how the Evangeline project could potentially affect its own water supply.
“We’re going to get through it, and we have confidence that ultimately the permits will be approved,” said City Manager Peter Zanoni on Feb. 5. “But it’s at the risk of causing peril in the community, in the region.”
Sinton’s opposition
The Evangeline groundwater project is planned for location on property spanning about 23,000 acres near the city of Sinton.
The aquifer serves as the sole source of municipal water supply for Sinton, shown by the U.S. Census Bureau as having a population of about 5,500 people.
Sinton city officials have long expressed trepidation of the city of Corpus Christi’s plans — and that hasn’t changed.
Sinton City Manager John Hobson had indicated that the city of Sinton would fight the issuance of the remaining permits for the Evangeline project, including in public statements made before the Corpus Christi City Council in August.
“You’re doing what’s right for y’all; we’re going to do what’s right for us,” Hobson had said.
As vowed more than five months ago, the city of Sinton is among the parties challenging the permits.
Others include St. Paul Water Supply Corp., a Sinton farmer and a Corpus Christi resident, according to a city-issued news release Feb. 4.
The protests
The filing of protests will likely mean, at minimum, scheduling a preliminary hearing for a later date to determine whether those contesting the permits have standing, officials said.
That step, from beginning to end, will likely take between 30 and 60 days, although possibly longer, Zanoni said.
Officials have known that protests against the permits were possible, but there had been monthslong outreach efforts — to include meetings with area leadership and community members — to resolve issues, Zanoni said.
“We anticipated protests, but we thought we were working tirelessly and literally around the clock to take care of all those issues,” he said. “The unfortunate truth is Sinton stopped communicating with the city.”
Hobson has in the past named among potential troubles the degradation of Sinton’s water quality, which he believes could be substantial enough that it could require more extensive, and subsequently more expensive, treatment.
He has also questioned the adequacy of study put into determining effects of the Evangeline operations.
The protests were to be filed against all of the 23 wells planned for the Evangeline project, Hobson told the Caller-Times on Jan. 28.
Zanoni doesn’t believe Sinton will be successful in ultimately denying the permits, but working through a legal process “takes time,” he said.
“Time is what we don’t have,” Zanoni said. “And so now the actions of Sinton are putting the region really in somewhat of a riskier situation than we’ve ever seen ourselves in, when it comes to water security.”
Hobson was not immediately available for an interview on Feb. 5, but sent a message to the Caller-Times in response to some of the statements of city officials.
“The protests are not putting the regional water supply at risk,” he wrote. “The city of (Corpus Christi’s) lack of action over the years has placed the region in peril.”
Other groundwater plans
City officials have been trying to get ahead of a water emergency — a task that appears to have become more daunting in recent weeks.
Efforts have included bringing online full capacity of groundwater wells in Nueces County – a feat that has also seen significant opposition, with residents voicing similar concerns as those cited by city of Sinton officials.
However, Nueces County does not have a groundwater conservation district, which would enable residents to have more regulatory control.
Instead, those properties were brought within the jurisdiction of the Corpus Christi Aquifer Storage and Recovery Groundwater Conservation District.
City officials, as part of the permitting for the Nueces County week fields, have agreed to carry out mitigation programs they say would address prospective issues faced by nearby private well owners.
What is known as the Eastern well field — located along the Nueces River, near County Road 73 — is currently producing as much as 10 million gallons of water per day, according to city officials.
The Western Well field, sited off County Road 666 and Northwest Boulevard, is planned to include as many as 12 wells, hoped to generate as much as 17 million gallons of water per day.
It is not currently operating, in absence of a bed and banks permit that requires approval of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
A bed and banks permit is what allows the groundwater’s ultimate conveyance to the Nueces River.
An application was submitted Jan. 30, according to a city memo issued the same date.
It would need to be a working well field by May, city officials have said, to avoid a water emergency in November.
A third well field may also be on the horizon.
Unexpected developments
New wrinkles in the city’s expectations have emerged in recent weeks.
Among them was an announcement last month that water from Lake Texana, delivered through the Mary Rhodes Pipeline, may be curtailed in the spring.
Should the lake drop to 50% — projected for possibly April — the city’s allocated amount of about 31,400 acre feet per year would be cut 10%, city officials have said.
It was recently disclosed, also, in a Jan. 30 memo that the volume of water produced through the Evangeline groundwater project would be slower-coming than originally thought.
It had been stated in the past that Phase 1 of the project would boast 12 million gallons of water per day, with a target date of November.
Based on new contractors’ estimates, it appears now that the volume that would be available in November would be 4 million gallons of water per day, with higher volumes to become accessible incrementally until reaching the 24 million gallons of water per day.
Nevertheless, city officials are optimistic a water emergency can be postponed.
That strategy hinges on Nueces County groundwater wells.
The Corpus Christi City Council is slated to make a decision on a third proposed well field in Nueces County on Feb. 10.
A posted agenda shows the City Council discussing the possibility of paying $28 million for groundwater rights on a 2,400-acre property owned by the Ed Rachal Foundation, assuming certain terms are met.
According to a city memo, the acreage would accommodate what would essentially amount to an expansion of the city’s Western well field.
It’s expected the third well field could produce 10 million gallons of water per day, to as much as 20 million gallons of water per day, Zanoni said.
That, combined with the other two Nueces County well fields, “will help with the Evangeline reality that we’re seeing now on permitting,” he said.
“Those three projects, plus anything that we can do in Evangeline, will help push back that November (date),” Zanoni said.
As of Feb. 4, the combined capacity of the city’s two main water sources, Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir, measure about 9.5%, according to city data.
Potential mitigation
The city of Corpus Christi and the city of Sinton had at one point been in discussions for an agreement outlining mitigation measures, should the Evangeline project impact Sinton’s water supply.
Included among the proposed provisions had been a commitment by Corpus Christi Water to construct an interconnect that could convey to Sinton emergency water, should there be a mechanical failure in Sinton’s systems.
While the draft agreement would help address initial concerns, it wouldn’t address them all, Hobson told the Caller-Times in December.
As of Feb. 5, the agreement that had been floated had not been approved by the Sinton City Council, according to city of Corpus Christi staff.
Other mitigation plans for the Evangeline project — these not specific to Sinton, but more general — are scheduled to be presented to the Corpus Christi City Council for consideration in its Feb. 10 meeting.
Among those would be assurance that the city would draw only enough groundwater per day to meet 15% of overall demand.
However, that pledge comes with a lengthy list of conditions, a city memo shows.
Conditions to limit pumping of groundwater to 15% of demand include requirements that the combined capacity of Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir stand at more than 50%, there being no restrictions on availability of water drawn from the Colorado River — a source the city has become progressively more reliant on during the drought — and having full access to the water under contract that is sourced from Lake Texana, according to the memo.
There is also a provision that the city be allowed to operate the well field as needed “to the extent required to meet maintenance requirements and maintain its operational capability,” the document states.
City officials are pitching various forms of monitoring as an augment to the Evangeline well field activities, including monitoring for subsidence, groundwater well production and water quality, according to city documents, in addition to a well assistance program to be offered as mitigation to other well owners.
The Evangeline permits
Part of the reason city officials don’t believe Sinton would be successful in protesting the permits is the spacing of the wells, Zanoni said.
Those proposed for the Evangeline project are positioned at least three times farther than required to avoid adversely impacting another well, he said.
The city is hoping for mediation with those seeking to protest, with the aim that the protests would be withdrawn, Zanoni added.
Alternatively, the preliminary hearing anticipated as of Feb. 5 will be scheduled.
That involves the protestants and the applicant agreeing on a judge, who would determine whether opponents have standing, Zanoni said.
Without standing, a decision on the permit returns to the San Patricio County Groundwater Conservation District, said Nick Winkelmann, CCW interim chief operating officer.
The city was aware of what would likely occur in the San Patricio Groundwater Conservation District meeting, Zanoni said on Feb. 5.
“Our whole approach has been to be very open and collaborative,” he said. “So that’s the unfortunate part of what’s happening.”
Kirsten Crow covers city government and water news. Have a story idea? Contact her at kirsten.crow@caller.com.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Fight underway over San Patricio County groundwater project
Reporting by Kirsten Crow, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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